We were on holiday in Japan – (more details here – in a few days). It was hectic and beautiful, raw, and a completely new experience for us. PS – you must have seen the Instagram updates? I posted all the different kinds of food we ate there. (I hope you are connected to my Instagram? It’s the same as the name of the blog – therecipelarder)

We have a farm in Mahabaleshwar. It’s 2 years old, and we have managed this year, to grow loads and loads of veggies. By the time I made the strawberry jam, the temperatures were already soaring and some of the vegetable plants had lost their jive. But the ones that live, fill me with awe. Awe because – hey! we are growing and eating our own vegetables. That’s a big dream come true for me.

Fresh Garlic bulbs

Cherry Tomatoes

Chillies – green and red

Bottle gourd.

Just a year ago the farm was a barren land of red mud and stones. The only greenery that could be seen was the forest surrounding the farm. As it is, because of the heavy rains in Mahabaleshwar, we have restricted variety of flora and fauna. While the fruits are not plenty, vegetables seem to thrive there. Especially the ones which grow on the ground (bottle gourd, watermelon, strawberry.) and vegetable plants which have not very huge tall growing stems.

Mulberries and strawberries prosper there. They grow easily and aplenty.

mulberries in all stages.

I got this recipe from a long time Mahabaleshwar resident. Mr Jaysing Mariwala. (read about him in the link!) He told me to wait till the fag end of the strawberry season, to make the Jam. The reason, he said was because the strawberries are more sugary, plumb and juicier after the sun gets stronger, post-winter.

The variety we grow is called Sweet Charlie. They are smaller than the other varieties and sweeter and the same time there is a subtle tartness to it. And unfortunately, the shelf life is very small too.

The strawberries are first mixed with sugar and lemon ( since no pectin is used – lemon acts as a preservative). Then they are crushed by hand (and oh! the fragrance!) and left in the sun for a few days. Since Mahabaleshwar sun is hot and intense I love making the Jam there.

Clean and quater the strawberries. Don't make very small pieces.
Add sugar, strawberries and lemon together in the vessel. Take care that no lemon seed gets into the mixture.

Clean your hands well, and crush the mixture, using palms and fingers. Keep scooping the mixture and crushing it, till you feel most of the strawberries have been crushed at least twice.

While doing this, see that you take the lemon pieces from the mixture and crush those too. Don't crush lemon too many times or too hard as your jam could get a bit bitter. Just give them a good rub with your thumb and fingers.

Once you are satisfied that your strawberries are crushed to your liking, clean the sides of the vessel, cover it with the net, place it in a plate of water (ants!) and set it in the sun.
At this point, please know that there is no step later on to pulp the strawberries further. So if you want gooey fine jam, crush the strawberries some more. Though for this recipe I recommend chunky strawberries.

The mixture will kind of bubble in the sun. You don't particularly need to stir it. Just let it soak in the sun.

When you feel the sugar has melted, and the strawberries have kind of fermented, its time to make the Jam.
(The mixture will have frothy bubbles, and no grain of sugar will be seen)

Set the vessel on high flame and start cooking it.
V V IMP - Keep stirring the jam continuously. I cannot stress strongly enough on this very important point.

HOW DO YOU KNOW JAM IS DONE

The jam should start looking thicker. All the sugar should have melted and evaporated. The colour should have got darker.

TO TEST---
Set a metal plate in the ice compartment.
When you feel that the jam is coagulated enough, take out a spoon and set it on the plate.
Remove the plate from the ice compartment only when you are ready to do this step.
Set the plate back in the ice compartment for 2 min.
Take it out - if the mixture has set on the plate (a little like jelly), your jam is ready to be taken off the heat.
Alternately - use a sugar thermometer. The jam sets at 105 Deg C. (220 Deg F)

Set it immediately on a plate of ice, to stop the cooking.

Let it cool, and bottle in sterile jars.
Be patient. The Jam might look a bit runny at first. After a few days it will set a little more. Don't declare it a failure immediately.

Recipe Notes

Experiment with flavours -

Add a bit of fresh Rosemary, just at the end stage of cooking?

Ginger - grated - again at the end of the cooking stage.!!

Mix some very coarsely crushed black pepper. Imagine that flavour, sweet with a hint of pepper at the end.

The flavours you can play around with are limitless. Let your thoughts run wild.

How to sterilise the jars ?

Well I just put them in the washing machine, with the water set to very hot.

It comes out dry and clean.

Share this Recipe

Since the jam has no preservative, you will need to refrigerate it. I live in Mumbai, where the humidity levels are very high and the heat higher. So I have no choice.

Meet the Author

For the 21 years and some months that I have been alive, there has been this crazy, eccentric, always-charged-up woman with a full-time job of being a mother to 6 (2 children, 4 dogs). In her spare time she blasts music on her DJ console, reads like a maniac, downloads shows (because God forbid she runs out of something to watch), runs an entire household, and to top it all off, manages a very successful catering business which makes the most delicious food in the entire world. Once you have her food, everything else will taste like stale socks. This is what you call "Maa ke haath ka khana".